Streetwear Sizing Guide: How Fit Actually Differs by Brand

Why Every Brand Sizes Differently

Sizing was never standardised, not really. Japanese brands calibrate to narrower frames and shorter inseams, a reflection of the domestic market they were originally built for. American brands with military heritage cut for layering over base garments, because the original use case involved wearing the thing over a uniform in an unheated aircraft, not over a fitted t-shirt in Zürich in October. Italian workwear labels size for European proportions but often add deliberate volume as a design choice, not an oversight.

Every brand has drifted over time. A vintage piece from 2001 may fit completely differently from what the brand currently calls the same cut, because pattern graders come and go, factories change, and customer feedback quietly reshapes the block over time. When you're buying resale, there's no exchange. No ordering two sizes and returning one. You need a real answer before you commit, not a hopeful guess.

The only reliable fix is measuring yourself, then checking the actual garment measurements. Not the tag. For a useful benchmark on how intentionally generous sizing can confuse the tag-size equation entirely, see how Rick Owens apparel runs generous relative to its tagged size.

Outerwear Sizing: C.P. Company, Canada Goose & Stone Island

Three brands, one market position, three genuinely different approaches to what a size means.

C.P. Company, True to Size with Intentional Volume

Massimo Osti founded C.P. Company in 1975 with garment-dyeing and material manipulation at the core of the process. This means the finished piece often has slightly unpredictable dimensions depending on the dye lot and washing treatment applied post-construction. That's not a flaw. It's the whole point. The brand cuts true to European sizing through the chest and shoulders, but the body of the garment sits wider than a standard fitted jacket because the silhouette is boxy and forward-leaning by design, not by accident.

This actually makes C.P. Company one of the more forgiving brands to buy pre-loved. It doesn't run small or large in the conventional sense. It runs wide. If you're between sizes, take your usual size and trust that the width is architectural rather than sloppy.

The C.P. Company Garment Dyed Lens Jacket we stock at Bloc Magasin works as an example: lightweight garment-dyed nylon, relaxed through the torso, drawstring hood, the signature Lens detail on the left sleeve, CHF 600.00. The silhouette reads generous but never formless. Take your size.

Canada Goose, Size Up for Heavy Layering

Functional outerwear designed for genuinely extreme cold has to make room for what goes underneath it. Canada Goose built the Expedition Parka to fit over substantial mid-layers: heavy fleece, thick knitwear, thermal base layers that add real bulk across the chest and upper arms. The brand's own guidance calls the fit relaxed, which is accurate if you're wearing it over a light hoodie. Add a proper down mid-layer and the relaxed fit becomes a wrestling match.

Before sizing even becomes the question, check you're looking at a genuine piece. The resale market for Canada Goose has a counterfeit problem serious enough that it eclipses the sizing question entirely. Read our guide on how to spot a real Canada Goose Expedition Parka first.

The Canada Goose Expedition Parka in grey we have in stock is CHF 1,500.00, built for arctic temperatures and rated accordingly. Worn over a light knit, your regular size works. Worn over anything with real insulation, go up.

Stone Island, Runs Slightly Small, Size Up Half

Stone Island cuts slim through the body relative to other outerwear at a comparable price point. Italian manufacturing standards apply, and the brand historically calibrates to a trimmer European silhouette than, say, anything built for North American retail. A Medium in Stone Island outerwear often corresponds to a Small in Canada Goose. Not dramatically, but enough that it catches people who don't expect it. Between sizes? Go up. Every time.

Leather Jackets: Avirex's Boxier, Oversized Cut

Leather jacket sizing is its own discipline. Most European brands cut close to the body because the aesthetic demands it. Avirex does not, and that distinction matters enormously when you're buying blind from a listing.

Why Avirex Feels Roomier Than Most Leather

Avirex has been producing flight-heritage leather since the 1970s, its roots tied directly to US military contract production. The A-2 and G-1 flight jackets that informed those early designs were built to be worn over uniform layers in unheated cockpits. The patterns allowed room across the back and shoulders that most civilian leather jackets simply never needed. Think of it like the difference between a jazz club chair and a concert hall seat: both are chairs, but one was designed to hold you in one position for a long time with a lot on underneath you. That heritage cut persists. The silhouette is deliberately boxy through the torso, with dropped shoulders and wider sleeves than anything cut to a contemporary slim profile.

The Avirex Icon Leather Jacket at CHF 1,000.00 is navy blue cowhide with embroidered patches at the chest and ribbed cuffs. Even where the product description notes a fitted silhouette, the Avirex cut reads roomier than equivalent European leather because the shoulder and chest measurements are generous relative to the tag size. Our Avirex leather jacket authentication and style guide breaks down which cuts fit which body types in more detail.

Chest Measurement Matters More Than the Tag

Measure your chest at the widest point. Then ask for the pit-to-pit measurement of the garment and double it. If that doubled figure exceeds your chest measurement by 10-15cm, you'll have the right amount of ease for streetwear wear without the jacket reading oversized. Less than 5cm over your chest measurement and the jacket will be genuinely tight once you've moved your arms, zipped it up, and remembered that leather doesn't stretch the way a knit would. It never gives. It only takes.

Denim Sizing: Evisu's Vintage Japanese Narrow Leg

Japanese denim sizing is a world with its own rules. Waist measurements are often printed in Japanese sizes, which correspond loosely to Western waist sizes but not precisely. Leg opening, thigh width, and inseam operate on proportions drawn from a different body reference entirely.

Evisu Runs Small in the Leg, Size Up One

Evisu was founded in Osaka in 1991, the name referencing Ebisu, the Japanese god of fishermen. The early cuts were modelled on vintage American workwear denim from the 1940s and 1950s: narrow leg opening, close through the thigh relative to the waist, a silhouette that reads straight but behaves narrow. Wear a 32 in a standard European straight-leg jean? A 32 in Evisu may fit through the waist and feel like a compression garment through the thigh, particularly in older cuts and raw denim styles where nothing has relaxed yet.

The Evisu Daicock Print Straight Fit Jeans at CHF 450.00 are a #2000 cut in 100% cotton raw denim with the signature ecru Daicock print across the back panel. Described as relaxed straight, which is accurate by Evisu's internal standards. By the standards of a modern wide-leg from a European brand, they're noticeably narrower through the leg. Size up one from your usual denim size to get the right ease through the thigh.

Waist vs. Length: Where Evisu Catches People

Raw denim complicates things further, because unwashed raw denim shrinks: typically 3-5% in length and slightly less in width, depending on the dye and cotton weight. If the pair you're looking at is unworn or barely worn, account for that shrinkage in your length calculation. Japanese sizing often lists the waist measurement generously while cutting the length shorter than the equivalent Western size. If you're between inseam lengths, go longer. You can turn up a hem, but you can't conjure length that isn't there. Having pre-loved raw denim hemmed at an alteration shop is straightforward and preserves the selvedge edge intact.

Once you've got the jeans, the care guide for pre-loved denim and leather covers what to do with raw denim that a previous owner may not have treated correctly.

Sneaker Sizing: Nike & ASICS Across Regions

Sneakers have the least variance across brands compared to clothing, but region and production era still create real differences. The two brands most relevant to current stock at Bloc Magasin are Nike and ASICS, and they behave differently enough to be worth separating.

Nike Air Max Plus, Standard US / EU Conversion

Nike runs true to size across the Air Max line, with a US to EU conversion that holds reliably across production years. A US 10 is a EU 44. The Air Max Plus specifically has a slightly narrow toe box, which can make it feel snug if your feet run wider than standard. The Tuned Air units in the midsole don't compress the way foam-only midsoles do, so the fit you feel the first day is approximately the fit you'll have six months later. Not much break-in to speak of. Half-size up if you're between sizes.

The Nike Air Max Plus EWT in Black/Bronzine is CHF 200.00. For anyone wearing these on Zürich's mix of cobblestone and tram-track terrain: the rigid Air Max Plus sole handles uneven surfaces more stably than softer foam runners, which matters more than it sounds when you're crossing Niederdorf on a wet Tuesday.

ASICS GEL-Quantum 360 VII, Snug Forefoot, True to Size

ASICS sizing is true to size by US/EU standard, but the GEL-Quantum 360 VII has a notably snug forefoot relative to other ASICS silhouettes. The seamless upper wraps close to the foot, which gives a locked-in feel for athletic use and reads as tight if your forefoot is on the wider side. Half-size up if that's you. The 360-degree GEL cushioning unit adds a small amount of stack height that changes the feel compared to older, lower-profile ASICS models, so if you're coming from something like a Kayano from five years ago, expect a different ride.

For a much more granular breakdown of this specific shoe, read the detailed ASICS GEL-Quantum 360 VII sizing and fit review. The ASICS GEL-Quantum 360 VII is currently CHF 170.00 at Bloc Magasin.

The Golden Rule: Trust the Measurements, Not the Tag

Every experienced pre-loved buyer reaches the same conclusion eventually. The tag is a suggestion, a historical artefact of whatever standards the brand used at the time of production, in the country where it was produced, for the market it was aimed at. Chest width, pit-to-pit, shoulder seam to shoulder seam, inseam, waist, thigh at 2.5cm below the crotch. These numbers don't lie. The tag, especially on anything more than five years old, very much can.

A useful case study: even when a brand is known for sizing down, like Rick Owens, the actual garment measurements still tell a more reliable story than the tag. The Rick Owens Quilted Vest (CHF 350.00) is a good example of a piece that reads generous in real life despite the sizing convention that surrounds the brand. Measure first. Always.

Shop These Brands at Bloc Magasin Zürich

Every piece referenced in this guide is available through Bloc Magasin, a pre-loved multi-brand streetwear and designer resale store based in Zürich-West. Stock rotates continuously, C.P. Company, Canada Goose, Stone Island, Avirex, Evisu, Nike, ASICS, and more. CHF pricing throughout. Swiss shipping available. If a specific piece has sold by the time you read this, new stock in the same brands arrives regularly.

Want Personal Fit Guidance? Visit Us in Zürich-West

If fit anxiety is the thing stopping you from committing to a piece, the most direct solution is to try it on. Bloc Magasin is at Flüelastrasse 16, Zürich-West, walk-ins welcome, and private appointments are available for anyone who wants dedicated time to work through sizing across multiple pieces before committing to a purchase.

Follow @blocmagasin on Instagram to see new arrivals as they land and to message us directly about booking a private fitting appointment. It's the fastest way to get a real answer about whether a specific piece in stock will work for your measurements, no guesswork, no returns negotiated across three countries.